The evolution of a Sport Grille, OR 'Mom, Neville's been playing with paint again!'
05-09-2002, 05:43 AM
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The evolution of a Sport Grille, OR 'Mom, Neville's been playing with paint again!'
As most of you are [painfully] aware by now, I am averse to the copious amounts of chrome this car is festooned with, as seen here:
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/9742/chrome_closeup.jpg">
So, after ripping off the badges, I embarked on a quest to find the perfect sport grille, my requirements being simple: it should be all black.
Along with many of my AW brethren, I started off with the Kamei Hex:
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/9742/kamei_closeup.jpg">
There's nothing wrong with this grille, it's reasonably priced, easy to install, and matches the brilliant black paint of my car perfectly. (I would prefer a larger hex, such as in the RS4 grille, but that comes with a brushed aluminium trim, and thus does NOT meet my requirements.)
However, I now have 2 different types of 'mesh' on my car: the small hex of the Kamei, and the 'eggcrate' pattern of the foglight grilles. This started annoying me, and at around the same time, one of our A4 brethren posted pix of the <a href="https://www.audiworld.com/tech/ext15.shtml">DIY sport grille mod</a>.
This got me thinking...paint the stock grille trim black, and Voila! all my requirements are met, hence:
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/9742/front_sportgrille.jpg">
Now I'm done, right?
No, because I still have too much (IMO) chrome on the car...this is not my father's Audi!
I looked at several pix of blacked-out rings, but nothing caught my eye...what I really wanted to do was make the rings match the trim surrounding the windows. After many months of searching for 'smoked chrome', I settled on PlastiKote Gunmetal paint.
3 coats of black primer, 3 coats of GunMetal, and 3 coats of clearcoat later:
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/9742/gunmetal_rings_on_car.jpg">
Now, I'm really done, right?
No, because [as usual], another AW post showed pix of the grill mesh painted black to match the foglight mesh.
Damn! I didn't even realize they weren't the same colour! Now that I know, it's a friggin' eyesore...damn AW ;-)
Back to the spraypaint...Blackprimer, GlossBlack paint & ClearCoat on the entire grille, and I'm done...what do you think?:
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/9742/frontal_flash.jpg">
(I apologize for the quality/angle of this pic...it's raining right now...if anyone wants a different angle, let me know)
Of course, this is not a 'robust' solution, since rock chips have a tendency to remove paint, but...Now I'm really done!
Well...maybe not...<a href="mailto:Zev@AvalonMotorsports.com">Zev</a> tells me he can hook me up with someone who can electroplate smoked chrome on the rings, so they'll <i>really</i> match the window trim...hmmmmmmm
Of course, the back of the car still has 'too' much chrome...I've removed the rear rings & painted them gunmetal, too (I'm not sure if I'll reinstall them tho'...I kinda like the clean look of the trunk), but the asymmetrical aspect of the chrome exhaust tips nags at me (Hey Zev, can your guy electroplate my tips with black chrome?)...but I digress.
I'm done...for now ;-)
If you've read this far, you MUST be bored today ;-) Anyway, I thank you for your indulgence.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/9742/chrome_closeup.jpg">
So, after ripping off the badges, I embarked on a quest to find the perfect sport grille, my requirements being simple: it should be all black.
Along with many of my AW brethren, I started off with the Kamei Hex:
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/9742/kamei_closeup.jpg">
There's nothing wrong with this grille, it's reasonably priced, easy to install, and matches the brilliant black paint of my car perfectly. (I would prefer a larger hex, such as in the RS4 grille, but that comes with a brushed aluminium trim, and thus does NOT meet my requirements.)
However, I now have 2 different types of 'mesh' on my car: the small hex of the Kamei, and the 'eggcrate' pattern of the foglight grilles. This started annoying me, and at around the same time, one of our A4 brethren posted pix of the <a href="https://www.audiworld.com/tech/ext15.shtml">DIY sport grille mod</a>.
This got me thinking...paint the stock grille trim black, and Voila! all my requirements are met, hence:
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/9742/front_sportgrille.jpg">
Now I'm done, right?
No, because I still have too much (IMO) chrome on the car...this is not my father's Audi!
I looked at several pix of blacked-out rings, but nothing caught my eye...what I really wanted to do was make the rings match the trim surrounding the windows. After many months of searching for 'smoked chrome', I settled on PlastiKote Gunmetal paint.
3 coats of black primer, 3 coats of GunMetal, and 3 coats of clearcoat later:
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/9742/gunmetal_rings_on_car.jpg">
Now, I'm really done, right?
No, because [as usual], another AW post showed pix of the grill mesh painted black to match the foglight mesh.
Damn! I didn't even realize they weren't the same colour! Now that I know, it's a friggin' eyesore...damn AW ;-)
Back to the spraypaint...Blackprimer, GlossBlack paint & ClearCoat on the entire grille, and I'm done...what do you think?:
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/9742/frontal_flash.jpg">
(I apologize for the quality/angle of this pic...it's raining right now...if anyone wants a different angle, let me know)
Of course, this is not a 'robust' solution, since rock chips have a tendency to remove paint, but...Now I'm really done!
Well...maybe not...<a href="mailto:Zev@AvalonMotorsports.com">Zev</a> tells me he can hook me up with someone who can electroplate smoked chrome on the rings, so they'll <i>really</i> match the window trim...hmmmmmmm
Of course, the back of the car still has 'too' much chrome...I've removed the rear rings & painted them gunmetal, too (I'm not sure if I'll reinstall them tho'...I kinda like the clean look of the trunk), but the asymmetrical aspect of the chrome exhaust tips nags at me (Hey Zev, can your guy electroplate my tips with black chrome?)...but I digress.
I'm done...for now ;-)
If you've read this far, you MUST be bored today ;-) Anyway, I thank you for your indulgence.
05-09-2002, 05:51 AM
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It actually doesn't take that long...
To do it right, you gotta remove all the chrome, but that ain't easy OR quick, so I just painted over it. I used a black primer, so if the gunmetal starts to flake (or gets a shallow chip), you won't see chrome under it so soon.
The PlastiKote stuff suggests 10 minutes between coats of any particular colour, and an hour between colours, so it's a 1/2 day job
The PlastiKote stuff suggests 10 minutes between coats of any particular colour, and an hour between colours, so it's a 1/2 day job
